Boost shoppers to your reuse centre

Reuse centres (or tip shops) recover quality items which were destined to become landfill and sell them back to the community. They are found at council transfer stations across Australia.

These shops—and secondhand selling in general—represent the circular economy in action. They keep items in use, delivering more value for longer. 

​Councils across Australia often use the Garage Sale Trail program to promote their reuse centres. More tip shop customers means more sales and greater impacts for the community. The program has also been used to promote other council facilities like libraries, plant nurseries and daycare centres.

sO, HOW CAN GARAGE SALE TRAIL HELP?

• Increase awareness of the reuse centre
  ​Local media love the Garage Sale Trail program and it has a strong history of securing positive media outcomes for councils. A front page photo of your mayor at the tip shop can both promote the program and tell more people about the facility.
• ​Boost shopper numbers over the event 
  Simply listing a reuse centre as a stop on the Garage Sale Trail sale weekends guarantees twice the amount of foot traffic. People will already be out shopping secondhand, why not get them to visit while they are at it.
• Change attitudes about shopping secondhand
  The program changes attitudes around waste and shopping secondhand. Last year, 60% of participants were more aware of what they buy and 23% said they were more likely to buy secondhand over new. Over time this contributes to a changed social norm around reuse, and more shoppers for your tip shop.
• Encourage donations to boost inventory
  On top of general promotion of the facility, some councils have used the program for additional exposure to gather inventory for their shop by encouraging residents to donate unwanted items.

cASE STUDIES

HUON VALLEY, TAS
Simply by listing their reuse centre on the Trail, Huon Valley Council’s Reuse Shop Sale attracted over 1,200 shoppers—up almost 500% compared to an average day—and enabled them to promote the Reuse shop and their waste contractors while providing a new audience with a way to get involved in Garage Sale Trail. 

Watch the presentation video (on right) to learn more.

BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL, QLD
​Brisbane City Council used the program to encourage residents and local community groups to host garage sales and to cross-promote other council waste services, such as their two Treasure Trove tip shops.

The tip shops featured in some fantastic media outcomes (see below). As a result of council’s involvement, more than 1,600 sellers participated at 640 registered sales across Brisbane, redistributing more than 3,800 shopping trolleys worth of items on the day.

KALAMUNDA, WA
The City of Kalamunda in WA used the Garage Sale Trail program to not only generate media and awareness about their Walliston Transfer Station but also get local community members to donate quality stock to be sold in store. This also provided an easy way for those who didn’t want to host a garage sale on the Trail to declutter and get involved.

Read the article here to learn more.

---

LET'S TALK ABOUT YOU

We would love to chat about your reuse centre and how Garage Sale Trail might help achieve your strategic priorities. Leave your details below and we'll reach out to book in a time that suits.